Church leaders are always told there's a new tool or trend they "have to" adopt — this newsletter cuts through the noise with a straight answer on what's actually worth your time. One trend, one verdict, and one step you can take this week. Let’s go.
The algorithm changed. Did your video strategy?
If your church jumped on short-form video a few years ago, you're not imagining it — it doesn't perform like it used to. The good news: it's not dead. The algorithm just changed what it rewards, and most churches haven't caught up yet. Here's what's actually working now.
Short-form video: still worth it?
The Trend
Short-form vertical video — Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts — has been the go-to church social strategy for years. The question worth asking in 2026: is it still paying off, or has the algorithm moved on without us?
The Translation
Short-form video hasn't stopped working — but the easy version of it has. Back in 2023-2024, any church that simply started posting vertical clips could rack up reach almost for free; the algorithms pushed rough, low-effort content hard. That window has closed. Feeds are saturated now, and the average viewer gives a clip about six seconds before scrolling on.
What's changed underneath is the algorithm itself. Platforms have shifted away from rewarding hyper-short, trend-chasing clips and toward rewarding actual watch time — content people stick with because it says something, not because it's fast or flashy. In practice, that means a 30-60 second talking-head clip of your pastor making one clear point from Sunday now outperforms a quick-cut highlight reel. And counterintuitively, rougher and more human tends to beat polished — a pastor answering a real question on camera, unscripted, is landing better than produced content.
The other shift: you don't need to post constantly anymore. A handful of substantive clips a week beats several a day.
Verdict: Worth It — but not the way you were told
Short-form video is still one of the best tools a church has for reach. What's not worth it anymore is the "post often, chase trends, don't overthink it" version of the strategy. The move now is fewer, more substantive, more human clips — not more content.
One Move
Pull one clear, specific moment from this Sunday's message — one point, one story, one line worth repeating — and post it as a simple, mostly unpolished talking-head clip. Skip the trending audio and the fast cuts. See how it performs against your usual approach.
Until next week,
Josh
The Church Comms Guy
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